Always Seventeen
by CharlieLee
Summary: It was a disgrace to be loved by him, and they'd all felt it, no one more than she.


A_ thousand years, three hundred and sixty five thousand days, a million and one moments._

_And while he lay there dying, with an hundreds of lifetimes worth of memories to watch,_

_You want to know what he thought about?_

_He thought about her._

* * *

**And there she was, the prettiest girl in the whole room.**

* * *

"Care-" Elena begins, crawling into bed beside her friend, who's doing her best to pretend she's still asleep. "I know you're awake," She snakes an arm around her waist, and tries to remember the last time she was really there for her friend, for any of her friends. She kisses her bare shoulder, ignoring the sticky sheen of sweat that comes with un-air- conditioned dorm rooms in the middle of April. "I know you're hurting."

"I am _not." _Caroline says, and her voice cracks half way through.

"It's not too late, Care." She kisses her again, and again, and again, like it can take away some of the pain. "I know you _lo-" _Caroline springs from the bed, knocking Elena onto her back. She stands by the bed, her chest heaving, face barely visible in the dim moonlight.

"I didn't." She whispers, her voice stronger somehow. "I didn't. I didn't like, care, love or feel anything of the sort for him. It's been three years, 'Lena."

"It'd be okay if you did, you know. It'd be alright if you felt something for him, Care." She sits up, watching the cracks appear, and waiting for it to shatter. "We all know I'm the queen of unwanted feelings." Caroline paces, squeezes her eyes shut, opens them, and repeats. Her breathing deepens. "Stefan says it's not too late. He's weaker, sure, but he's still here." She crawls across the bed, her movements silent, cautious. She doesn't want to startle Caroline, this is the most she's spoken since she told her three days ago.

_They did it, Care. They found a way to kill them. _

They'd hugged, celebrated, and Elena had felt so _free. _

That was until she'd her best friend crying in the bathroom, and since then Caroline had barely spoken a word.

"I- I missed it, Elena." She says, her voice hoarse. She places a hand over her still heart, as the tears begin to flow. "I missed my only- my only chance." Elena barely catches what she's saying. It's as though somebodies opened the floodgates, and Elena has no idea how to close them.

"Caroline-"

"I was so _scared, _Elena."

"Scared? Caroline," Elena tries to hug her, but the girl shakes her head and steps away. "you were right to be scared. He was _dangerous." _Caroline laughs, and in a very un-Caroline like gesture, wipes her nose on the bottom of her cami.

"We're all dangerous. All of us. I've killed, you've killed. One or one thousand. What's the difference? It's the same. You're always going to have taken someone's life away, and maybe it just-" She sobs, and Elena can feel her heart breaking, because _this- _this is Caroline, the real Caroline, and nobody ever took the time to care.

_Except for Klaus. _

_"_Caroline, we can go to him. I'll come. We can go. We can say goodbye."

"I was scared," She repeats. "Klaus said it himself, he wanted to be my last love. I was scared. He wanted forever-"

"Forever is a long time for an eighteen year old, Care. Klaus knew that." The words taste bitter in her mouth, but she forces them out. Because it's about time she was there for Caroline, she can see that now.

"Did he? Because I never said it, never told him. I never _knew. _This isn't fair, Elena." She takes a deep shuddering breath. "Death was not part of the brochure, we signed up for eternity." Elena laughs, and so does Caroline.

"I love you."

"I didn't want to be his rope."

"I know."

"I didn't know-" Caroline crosses her arms, and Elena struggles to understand when her friend became so vulnerable, or if maybe she's always been that way. "I didn't know I cared."

"Me either. We can-"

"What? Go there?" Caroline laughs, and empty dry laugh. "Tell him I cared, might have loved him given time? That sound awfully cruel to me."

* * *

"I don't think she's coming." Stefan shakes his head, and Klaus struggles to open his eyes. "Do you need anything?"

"No," He croaks, wincing at the sound of his own voice. He never wanted to be this pathetically weak again, never in his life.

They're sitting outside, the two old friends, brothers, waiting for the break of dawn. One last day, one last chance to see the sun rise, why not? He can feel the end coming, he's seen enough death to know. He himself has felt it once, and he feels so brittle, so human.

A strange awe settles over him, an odd appreciation for the human life, so fragile, so ready to break, and yet they carry on.

The darkness fades from the sky, being replaced by the light of day, and if he had the energy, he'd smile at how perfect an ending it was to be.

If she wasn't coming, of course, he'd have to do without.

It was a disgrace to be loved by him, and they'd all felt it, no one more than she.

It's very cold, and his hands begin to shake. He tries to clench them together in his lap, but he can't muster the strength.

So, Stefan does it for him, taking his hands between his own.

His final act of brotherhood.

* * *

"Typical Klaus." Caroline mutters, trudging her way through the mud. "I mean, a cabin in the woods, really?! Did you see the Mikaelson mansion? Hello? This is so not his style."

"Maybe he's laying low." Elena whispers, biting back a grin.

"Why? Who on earth could want to harm him?" Caroline says with such genuinity that both the girls can't help but laugh. They trudge on for a couple of minutes more, when Elena spots the clearing, and right in the centre, the little house. She nudges Caroline, letting her know that she's not going any further. They hug, and Elena nearly doesn't let go, nearly tells her that they can go back, but she doesn't.

Caroline takes a deep breath, and whispers the 'I love you', rolls the words around in her mouth, because practice makes perfect.

And Caroline Forbes is _nothing_ if not perfect.

* * *

His eyes flitter between open and shut, attempting to rest and take in as much of day as he can.

It's going to rain today, he can just tell.

Stefan shuffles beside him.

"Klaus-" His voice is barely a whisper. "Klaus open your eyes, I can hear it. Klaus?" He squeezes his hands repeatedly, but Klaus feels like it's time, like he's ready to take a really long nap, like he's ready to let go.

"Klaus-" He urges, and he rallies every bone in his body, to give it one last look.

And he isn't disappointed, because there, on the edge of the clearing, _she's _standing.

Looking seventeen, just like the day he met her, just like the day he last saw her.

_Always seventeen. _

A smile plays across his lips, as he let's his eyes drift shut one more, and he knows that she's coming towards him, listening to his heart fade away.

And she doesn't need to tell him she loves him, or goodbye, or anything of the sort.

He knew.

The final beats comes, and as Caroline takes one of his hands, it goes.

The world obtains an odd quiet, an eerie stillness, something she can feel in the pit of her stomach.

Something, that Caroline's not sure will ever go away,

But she doesn't think that she wants it to.

* * *

**So much cheese. So, so much. It wasn't intended to be that way, but evidently I'm in a soppy mood. I wrote most of this a couple of months ago, and am currently clearing out my computer. It's not how I really wanted to turn out but I didn't want to just let it go so... I hope you enjoyed it.**


End file.
